Fairer Than Morning~Rosslyn Elliott~Blog Tour

This book review is for the novel "Fairer Than Morning". Which is the debut novel by Rosslyn Elliott.

What a novel to debut with! I read it for a blog tour and although the book is somewhat long at 387 pages she writes with an almost poetic feel to the novel. The imagery that her novel produces is beautiful. She paints pictures with her words in this moving novel.

The book is actually a work of fiction that is inspired by a real family that lived in American history, the Hanby Family.

Ann Miller is a young lady with a large mind who loves to read the classics and discuss books with her suitor Eli. Her mother died in childbirth many years ago and she has been left to be a surrogate mother to her two young sisters. Their father, who is a saddle maker by trade, tends to the business and occasional rides off the farm as a traveling preacher. He can't make a decent living at the preaching, therefore he continues with the saddle making. He is considered a master saddler and has a prominent family from Pittsburgh who have him come from Ohio to build their saddles.
On one such trip, Ann and her sisters accompany him to Pittsburgh and she meets Will Hanby, who is the apprentice of another saddle maker. His master is unbelievably cruel and beats him nearly to death.
Will has almost given up hope in life after the awful death of his parents and the torture of working under his master. Meeting Ann even for a fleeting few moments and seeing her kindness and light shine through give him hope for a brighter future.

Everything in this novel culminates toward a suspenseful end. The issue of slavery and murder are touched on several times in this novel. Deep seated emotions are richly portrayed throughout the entire book.

Here are my two favorite lines from the novel by far.

"The intense feeling of presence subsided, as if someone standing next to him had just moved away but remained in the room." This takes place when Will is praying.

"Tell me what you wish me to do. I want to be certain, like the others. In an instant, the night sky became more vast, the vault of heaven opened to limitlessness. Will felt himself minuscule in the sight of something that was everywhere and moving through him, as if he broke apart and mingled with it.His breath came in short, staggered puffs. Who was he, to have asked for an audience with Eternity? At the same time, he felt acceptance such as he had never known, as if these fragments that made him were revealed in all their brokenness and inadequacy...and he was fully loved. He would never be alone."

I have to say again just a beautiful, moving book! Big thumbs up to Rosslyn!


Rossyln has a fun giveaway coming up that you should definitly check out!

Win a custom made period dress ... and a KINDLE from Rosslyn Elliott!
Enter 9/1-9/20!

After entering the contest be sure and check out Rosslyn's website http://rosslynelliott.com/where you can find out more about this new author!

You can read an excerpt of this wonderful book here: http://www.rosslynelliott.com/books.php just scroll down to read the excerpt.

You can purchase the book for yourself, here: Own Fairer Than Morning For Yourself

I highly recommend you picking up this novel and diving into it! I love discovering great new authors for my collection!

Happy week and reading all!
Jenny


*Note* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. I am not required to post a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own and they are sincere.